Banners, Branding and Books

Working on lots of ideas for some different banners. Here is the latest one that I'm excited about. I think this would be so much fun if you want more than 1 flower girl. Instead of dropping flowers that someone then has to go clean up, how about a banner that says "Here comes the Bride". This banner can be made reversible so that when the flower girls walk back down after the ceremony it says "Mr. & Mrs. LastNameHere". Of course you could also have it as a 2nd banner that someone at the front could give the flower girls before they walk back down the aisle. The great thing about this banner is you could then use the personalized side at the reception on the head table and also it could then hang in the newlyweds home. Of course this could be made to match wedding colors.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about branding for Pink Owl. I want it fairly clean and simple, since that's me. I had an aha moment today while driving home from taking the kids to school so hopefully now it will all start to come together. Of course this would happen when I have lots of other new ideas rolling around in my head and a BUSY evening.

Does anyone know of a good place to get custom digital books made? I'd love to design my own photo book for baseball this year and know others who are interested in it, but I need a good place to get them printed. I know Shutterfly and all those places offer photo books, but I want to design all the pages and stuff myself. I'd also love to offer this as an item/service.

I am...

...looking forward to baseball tonight. Hope the bad weather holds off.

...enjoying the smell of fresh cut grass.

...thankful for the makers of allergy drugs so I can enjoy fresh cut grass.

...feeling very inspired and excited about some ideas.

...crossing things off my to do list. This always makes me happy.

...working on a new blog header. Something a little more "me".

...searching for places to get prints made and custom designed digital photo books printed.

...working on baseball pictures and loving every second of it.

...excited about the items that will be going up in the etsy shop this week.

Graduation Cap Cards that went in the Etsy shop today.

7 on Sunday

Lots of randomness today:

1. Doing very good on my using things up this month. Cleaning out the cabinets is nice and using things makes me happy.

2. Did some major cleaning up of my bookmarks this weekend and am loving that so much of it I was able to just pin on my Pinterest boards instead of keeping in my bookmarks. I love this because then no matter where I am I can still access the stuff. Also I have by far less stuff bookmarked.

3. Worked on Graduation cards, a very fun wedding banner and a few other things this weekend, which means lots of stuff to go in the Etsy shop this week.

4. Still working on baseball pictures from last weekend and from this past week. Started the regular season 2-0! I love editing pictures so it's okay that I have a ton to do.

5. My brother had his Senior pictures taken this week so now I get to play with those as well. Also will be working on some digital cards with them.

6. Hoping this week will be much better than last week was. I am proud of myself for just taking Friday to be sad and not stress over getting my to-do list done. I needed the day that way and it was fine that I took it.

7. Look for some good Mother's Day gift ideas this week. I can't wait to share some ideas of good handmade gifts for Mom!

Hoping I haven't already shared this set. A very simple birthday card set.

25 Years

25 years ago today my daddy passed away. I was 9 at the time. I remember waking up and my Aunt Dawn being there and her telling me that Grandma Duffy and Granny and Pope were on their way to Texas because my daddy was in bad shape. I went to school, came home and rode my bike. Then my mom came home with my grandparents. She took me in the house and sat on the couch with me in her lap and our dog sitting next to us. She said "Guys, daddy's gone to heaven to be with Grandpa Duffy." I don't remember crying then. I don't remember crying at all. I wonder if I did? I remember going to the funeral home and seeing him. I remember putting things like a Texaco sticker, a picture and a baseball pennant in his coffin. I remember him being in his "I-70 World Series" shirt. I remember going to school the next day because I was determined to get perfect attendance that year and we were going to Carver Culture Center. I remember everyone being very sad for me. I remember the funeral and all the adults crying. I remember we went to a Midland Angels game that night. I remember my aunt crying during "Take Me Out To The Ballgame"(it was played at the end of my dad's funeral). I remember people being around for a long time.

I miss my daddy. For whatever reason this week has been very hard on me. All week I have just felt down and off. I knew it was coming, but I didn't expect it to be hard all week. Usually it's just the day, not the entire week. Today has been especially hard. I would give anything for just a few hours with him again. I hate that as the years go on, I feel like I remember less and less. I wish more than anything he could have met Dart and Audrey. Oh how he and Dart would have spent hours and hours talking baseball. They would have drove us all crazy. Dart is so him when it comes to baseball and not just enjoying the game for the game, but being absorbed in the stats as well. And then Miss Audrey. She would have had him wrapped around her little finger. He would have loved her crazy antics, he would have loved her stories and her determination. He would have decorated his office in her drawings and paintings.

He was so strong and determined to live life as much as he could. I think he knew his time would be short and so he lived life. He didn't let his diabetes get in the way of his life. Towards the end he was on dialysis, but never was down about it. He had worked for an incredible company that did so much for him and our family. He was an accountant at Texaco(yes there is irony in him passing away on April 15th) and the people he worked for could not have been better. He is my angel and when everyone tells me how strong I am, it's only because he is carrying me. I wish more people could have met my dad. I know he wasn't perfect, but in the eyes of a 9 year old daddy's girl he was. I don't remember his flaws and would rather pretend he didn't have any.

Daddy, I hope Dart grows up to be half the man you were. If he does I will be successful as a parent. I hope Audrey grows up to marry a man like you. If she does she will be loved like no one else. I hope you know how much I love you and miss you. I know you are watching over us, and while that is comforting, it doesn't make the pain any less.

I have no freaking clue what I was doing!

At the Grand Canyon.

7 on Sunday Weekend Recap

This is going to be a busy week, with hopefully lots of blogging.

For now here is my 7 on Sunday Weekend Recap.

1.) A very sun burnt mom!

2.) 505 pictures taken

3.) A very dirty little girl(well not anymore, she has had a bath) who was VERY GOOD all weekend at a tournament.

4.) 1 team who looked and played so good together in their first tournament.

5.) 1 Very proud and worn out 9 year old who spent the weekend doing what he loves more than anything, playing baseball. He spent most of the tournament at 1st base and had an amazing catch to get a kid out who all last week at school kept telling him he was going to hit a homerun every time he was up to bat.

6.) 5 baseball games played in roughly 30 hours time. Thus the sun burnt mom, 505 pictures and a little girl who was beyond good. 10 hours alone were spent at the ball fields on Sunday. She started to complain the last 10 minutes we were there.

7.) A 2nd place finish!!!!!!! I am so proud of our boys who finished 2nd in this tournament. The improvements from last year, even from just the fall season are AMAZING!!! They looked like they really knew what they were doing. After we won the game to move onto the championship game all the moms were in tears. The team we beat to get to the championship game was the team we played in the first game of the tournament and lost too, who had the cocky kid that has been telling a lot of the boys all week how his team was going to win the tournament. That was the most nerve wracking, stomach turning 90 minutes of my life. I know at one point when we were struggling I seriously thought I was going to get sick to my stomach. A friend of ours who has been at this for 10+ years with her 2 boys and her husband as a coach said it doesn't ever get any easier. UGH! I was hoping it did.

My baby boy receiving his trophy for 2nd place.

Grandparents Day

80 dozen cookies consumed, 500 kids with grandparents visiting, some from 1,000+ miles away, songs sung, work shared, MEMORIES MADE!! Grandparents Day 2011 is in the books.

After school we headed to Baskin Robbins for ice cream and there were friends there as well. Including one of Audrey's "boy"friends. I thought my step dad was going to have a fit. There was lots of hugging and talking. Oh to be in Kindergarten again. My mom got pictures of it, but since they were dealing with massive storms she hasn't emailed them to me yet.

After ice cream the kids and I headed to the park for a bit. It was PERFECT outside. Kids had a blast. After that we ran a few errands including getting new baseball cleats for Dart. He is a size away from Men's shoes. God help me! Make him slow down. He is so ready for tomorrow. I honestly think he is more excited to play baseball than he ever has been for Christmas. It makes me so happy to see him this excited.

After being gone almost 11 hours today I was ready for bed as soon as I got home. Instead I finished editing baseball pictures and got them uploaded to our team website. Now to prepare for the onslaught of pictures I will take this weekend as we play in our first tourney!

Pictures of Grandparents Day and baseball to come this weekend.

Have a wonderful weekend!!

And so it begins...

the craziness is upon us. Tomorrow is Grandparent's Day at school. My mom and step dad and my grandma and grandpa are coming from Kansas City and then Mark's mom and dad and hopefully his grandma will all be there for it. The kids love it, the grandparents love it, the staff loves it(when it's over). Really everyone does love the day. With a student body of over 500 in a building meant for 300 it can be a bit crazy, but we make it work. We welcome grandparents from all over the WORLD, yes I said world. Last year we had some from Africa. That just blows my mind. They plan their vacation around grandparents day so they can be here for it each year. This year PTA decided to make posters to let the grandparents know what all has been done for their darlings. Worked on those for over 2 hours today. They look awesome though. Will have to get pics tomorrow with my good camera.

Also this weekend is our first baseball tournament. YAY!!! I love me some baseball and can't wait to see the boys play. Although I hope and pray they look better than they did at last nights practice. It was like "The Bad News Bears." We also did team pictures last night so that may have played a role in their craziness.

They all look so much older in their new uniforms. Last year it was just whatever pants and t-shirts for the jerseys. This year we have "real" jersey's, matching pants, and really cool fitted hats. The boys are so excited to actually play a game.

This little guy is the brother of one of our players. He and another little boy are our "mascots". Chase is not a fan of having his picture taken so when I was downloading my pics last night and came across this I knew his mom was going to be excited. This is totally Chase. Ornery grin, not looking directly at the camera. Today was his mom's 30th birthday and she was dreading the day, but I know when she opened her email this morning and saw this picture all was right in her world. I so enjoy taking these kinds of pictures over the posed ones. I'm more relaxed when my subjects are relaxed. Not to say I don't pose them some, but the fact that they aren't in some unnatural pose makes all the difference in the world.